An Act Relating to Desertion and Non-Support of Wife by Husband, or of Children by Either Father or Mother, and Providing Punishment Therefor; and to Promote Uniformity Between the States in Reference Thereto.

Section 1. Be it enacted, etc., That any husband who shall, without just cause, desert or wilfully neglect or refuse to provide for the support and maintenance of his wife in destitute or necessitous circumstances; or any parent who shall, without lawful excuse, desert or wilfully neglect or refuse to provide for the support and maintenance of his or her child or children under the age of sixteen years in destitute or necessitous circumstances, shall be guilty of a crime, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment in the not ex

ceeding two years, or both, with or without hard labor, in the discretion of the court.

Sec. 2. Proceedings under this act may be instituted upon complaint made under oath or affirmation by the wife or child or children, or by any other person, against any person guilty of either of the above-named offenses.

Sec. 3. At any time before the trial, upon petition of the complainant and upon notice to the defendant, the court, or a judge thereof in vacation, may enter such temporary order as may seem just, providing for support of the deserted wife or children, or both, pendente lite, and may punish for violation of such order as for contempt.

Sec. 4. Before the trial, with the consent of the defendant, or at the trial, on entry of a plea of guilty, or after conviction, instead of imposing the penalty hereinbefore provided, or in addition thereto, the court in its discretion, having regard to the circumstances and to the financial ability or earning capacity of the defendant, shall have the power to make an order, which shall be subject to change by the court from time to time, as circumstances may require, directing the defendant to pay a certain sum periodically, for a term not exceeding two years, to the wife or to the guardian, curator or custodian of the said minor child or children, or to an organization or individual approved by the court as trustee; and shall also have the power to release the defendant from custody on probation for the period so fixed upon his or her entering into a recognizance, with or without surety, in such sum as the court or a judge thereof in vacation may order and approve. The condition of the recognizance shall be such that if the defendant shall make

his or her personal appearance in court whenever ordered to do so, and shall further comply with the terms of such order of support, or of any subsequent modification thereof, then such recognizance shall be void, otherwise of full force and effect.

Sec. 5. If the court be satisfied by information and due proof under oath that at any time during said period of two years the defendant has violated the terms of such order, it may forthwith proceed with the trial of the defendant under the original charge, or sentence him or her under the original conviction, or enforce the suspended sentence, as the case may be. In case of forfeiture or recognizance and enforcement thereof by execution, the sum recovered may, in the discretion of the court, be paid in whole or in part to the wife, or to the guardian, curator, custodian or trustee of the said minor child or children.

Sec. 6. No other or greater evidence shall be required to prove the marriage of such husband and wife, or that the defendant is the father or mother of such child or children, than is or shall be required to prove such facts in a civil In no prosecution under this act shall any existing statute or rule of law prohibiting the disclosure of confidential communications between husband and wife apply, and both husband and wife shall be competent witnesses to testify against each other to any and all relevant matters, including the fact of such marriage and the parentage of such child or children; provided that neither shall be compelled to give evidence incriminating himself or herself. Proof of the desertion of such wife, child or children in destitute or necessitous circumstances or of neglect or refusal to provide for the support and maintenance of such wife, child or children shall be prima facie evidence that such desertion, neglect or refusal is wilful.

Sec. 7. It shall be the duty of the sheriff, warden or other official in charge of the county jail, or of the custodian of the reformatory, work-house or house of correction, in which any person is confined on account of a sentence at hard labor under this act, to pay over to the wife or to the guardian, curator or custodian of his or her minor child or children, or to an organization or individual approved by the court as trustee, at the end of each week, for the support of such wife, child or children, a sum equal to for each day's labor performed by said person so confined.

Sec. 8. This act shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those States which enact it.

Sec. 9. Repealing clause.

Sec. 10. This act shall take effect the....

..Anno Domini 19..

..day of

The motion was duly seconded and after vote was declared carried.

Samuel S. Field: As I understand it, the resolution has not been adopted, but the motion was simply to refer the matter to the committee.

The President: The vote was on the motion simply to refer to the committee and not on the adoption of the resolution.

If there is no other new business, any member wishing to recommend the election of any new member, will find this an appropriate time to present the name.

James W. Chapman, Jr.: I have one application from Philip H. Close, of Belair, properly approved by the committee.

Samuel S. Field: I move his election as a member of this Association.

The motion was duly seconded, and after vote declared carried.

The President: If there is no further business to come before the Association, a motion to adjourn is in order. Before that motion is put, I desire to call attention to the fact that there will be a meeting of the Association this afternoon at three o'clock for the purpose of discussing the report of the Committee on Laws, and I trust that members will be prompt in their attendance.

Thomas Foley Hisky: I move we now adjourn.

The motion was duly seconded, and after vote declared carried, and the Association was accordingly adjourned until three o'clock P. M.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

Pursuant to adjournment the Association convened at three o'clock P. M., the President being in the chair.

The President: The business now before the Association is the discussion of reports of committees and the committee whose report is most important for consideration and discussion is the Committee on Laws. I would like to know the wishes of the Association in regard to the discussion of the report of the Committee on Laws as to how it shall be taken up, whether as a whole or separately, as there are several separate recommendations made by that committee.

Charles H. Stanley: I move that the report be taken up for discussion separately as to the several recommendations embodied in that report. The motion was duly seconded and after vote declared carried.

The President: The first recommendation of the committee is in reference to a bill entitled "Volunteer Militia Exempt from Jury Duty," and has reference to the payment by honorary members of ten dollars a year, the payment of which exempts them from jury duty.

George P. Thomas: I move that the first bill, just referred to, in reference to "Volunteer Militia Exempt from Jury Duty," be taken up now and that it be approved by the Association.

Jesse Slingluff: I have an amendment I would like to make to the second bill.

Mr. Thomas: We are only discussing the first bill.

The President: I presume that we shall have to take those two bills together, as they refer to the same matter.

Mr. Slingluff: The first bill is an act to repeal Section 606 of Article 4 of the Public Local Laws of the City of Baltimore, and the second is the enactment of a bill to provide an additional appropriation to make up any loss of revenue to the militia companies occasioned by the passage of the first bill. The second bill is an act to re

peal Section 37 of Article 65 of the Code of 1904 of the Public General Laws and to re-enact the same with amendments. It provides that the general appropriation for the militia shall be exclusively applied to the necessary and contingent expenses of the Adjutant General's office, and to the maintenance of the national guard enlisted and organized as provided for in this article.

At the present time the fund derived from the issuance of honorary memberships in the various city regiments goes to the regiment itself and the proposed bill provides that that fund shall go to the Adjutant General's office first. Having been a member of the militia for a number of years, I happen to know that the fund derived from honorary membership goes to the various regiments and is expended by these regiments independent of the Adjutant General's office. In the Fifth Maryland Regiment, for instance, that fund is used to provide the regiment with the distinctive uniforms the members wear, that is, the gray uniform. If we adopt this bill, in its present form, it means that the Fifth Regiment will have to give up its present distinctive uniform, whereas, if the fund provided to meet the deficiency is paid to the regiment instead of being disbursed by the Adjutant General's office, the Fifth Regiment could still maintain its own uniform, by expending that fund independent of the Adjutant General's office. As it is at present, the disbursement of that fund lies with the regiment itself, and in order to overcome the difficulty which I have referred to, I would suggest that the bill be amended in the following manner : Let Section 37 read as it is here down to the middle of the fifth line; after the word "Article" have a second section to read as follows:

"And the amount of the appropriation for the maintenance of the National Guard in the City of Baltimore shall be sufficient to make up any loss of revenue to the militia companies of said National Guard in said City of Baltimore, by reason of the repeal and re-enactment of Section 608 of Article IV of the Code of Public Local Laws, and any sum appropri